


Wibbly Wobbly, or Reflections On Opera From The Future

by ThisNothingInTheMiddle



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: Gen, Nonbinary Character, or characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-10-19 09:33:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17598758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisNothingInTheMiddle/pseuds/ThisNothingInTheMiddle
Summary: Charley Pollard has flown a long way from her home, to a world that she could never have imagined. So it's a shock when she's confronted by something very familiar indeed- a feeling that she thought was buried deep inside only her.





	Wibbly Wobbly, or Reflections On Opera From The Future

**Author's Note:**

> "I think it’s time we came out of the closet, don’t you?”  
> —The Eighth Doctor to Charley Pollard, Faith Stealer.

The Doctor hated to leave the opera early, but as soon as the scene ended he slipped out to follow his friend. He hadn’t seen which way Charley had fled but he could make a shrewd guess.

Outside, the starry sky was shining and the air was crisp, filled with the babble of city night life and hovercar traffic. The Doctor saw Charley leaning on the railing overlooking the harbour. She was wiping her face dry before he could find her.

She gave a cheery smile when he approached that wasn’t entirely fake. “Oh Doctor I’m sorry, I was just… marvelling at the TARDIS’ translation circuit. It really can find the most wonderful words, even for songs.”

“Yes.” He leaned on the railing beside her. “The old girl’s a poet at heart.”

They watched the sky blink with the lights of atmosphere craft for a minute before Charley spoke again. “I was… touched by the opera. As far as I could follow it-” and the Doctor knew she had followed it perfectly, because he had seen the enraptured look on her face ten minutes ago, “-it was about a young adventurer who discovers that they were neither a man nor a woman.”

“That’s right. By this era it’s a bit of a classic storyline, but it’ll be breathed new life when gender exploration plays a large part in the Renaissance of the Self in about a decade.”

Charley stared out across the dark water, and then said in a small, matter-of-fact voice, “I was beginning to think I was crazy.”

“Oh Charley Charley Charley.” The Doctor put his hand on hers.

“Some days I’d wake up and think I’d been making it all up, and that if it said I was 'adventuress' on my diary then I may as well be one. But other days I’d wake up and know that I wasn’t cut out to be a girl, and that I looked so much better if I dressed as a boy, or something like it.” She still didn’t look the Doctor in the face. Her hand fidgeted under his. “On the TARDIS it felt better in some ways, but worse in others. Like I could be anything I wanted while I was on board, but I couldn’t make up my mind what I was.”

The Doctor was nodding along. “20th century Western society is a dull time for gender studies. I’m sorry Charley, I should have seen that this was upsetting you.”

“It’s okay, it wasn’t- well I mean, I don’t even think I understood what I was thinking until now. Do they… do they have a word for me? For how I feel.”

“They have many words. Nonbinary perhaps, or gender fluid. I'll find a book for you with them all written down. Some will fit better than others.”

“So should I, I don’t know, read them all and pick one?”

“You could pick one, or more than one, or none! I’ve always just tended to avoid the topic myself.”

“I never thought to ask. Is this how you feel?”

The Doctor gave a chuckle. “Honestly? I haven’t thought about it in years. ‘Gender,’ in human terms, doesn’t really apply to my species. Well, not as anything more than a fashion statement.”

Charley laughed. “I like that. ‘Today I have a formal do so I’ll go as an adventuress. But when I get home I’ll change into something less formal…’”

“An adventurex?” the Doctor suggested.

Charley laughed again as she took the Doctor’s arm and leaned on him. “Memoirs of an Edwardian Adventurex. It’s a tale as old as time; almost-girl meets almost-boy. C'mon, let's go back inside."

**Author's Note:**

> I found this short piece while looking through all the many, many half-finished stories on my computer, and couldn't think of any reason not to post it. I imagined it being set just outside the Sydney Opera House, which I visited once (I didn't go inside). So, if you want, this story could be set in Sydney, the year 25 thousand and something.  
> Someone online once called Eight and Charley a nonbinary power couple, and I love that.


End file.
